I used a dado head as well. I bought 1X3 poplar at Home Depot, since it seemed to be the smoothest, straightest wood for painting. In addition to the panel grooves, I also cut a tenon on the end of the vertical pieces so they would fit into and fill in the groove cut in the horizontal pieces. It was actually very easy, BUT- The wood wasn't all the same thickness! I guess by woodworking standards it was OK, but for a toolmaker, I was distressed to fit things together and find some mismatch. It helped to mark one side as the top, and always put that side against the rail of the saw, so at least the outward surface was nice. Next time, I'll check the wood, and if it's off, run it through the planer first.

A couple other things- Folks have pointed out that apparently the vertical pieces should go all the way up, instead of stopping at the horizontal pieces. I can't imagine it makes much difference, and made them the way that looked good to my eye. I glue the frames anyway, so they are not going anywhere. I did not glue the infill (beadboard) since it's supposed to have some room for seasonal shrinking and swelling. The biggest part of the job was painting! I might consider spraying them next time I make some, but I do like the hand-painted appearance that you won't get with spraying.

Jay Marti emailed me and asked me to let you know she is not able to get onto SH board to post and wanted to thank you for your answer.

Chris

I can post some sketches if it will help. I'm not always the best at describing things!

Hi, I know this thread wasn't addressed to me :) but we have made lots of different types of doors over the years so I thought I'd be forgiven for chiming in.
Having had lots of wooden things twist over the years, now, if the object is going to be painted, we always use MDF for the frames because of the stability and ease of use (not to mention the price). We've used beadboard panels cut down to size for the panel inserts as well. They turned out well.
If the item is not going to be painted, it's a different story ... My hubby has made a few furniture pieces of wood that will hopefully be cherished for generations to come, but for every day practical use, we like mdf.
~Missy

Missy, does MDF have problems with moisture?
Will it decompose if water gets on it?

I notice that the HGTV channel programs use the MDF
for LOTS of projects, but I've avoided using it for any projects.

I'm asking because I need to make some doors with beadboard inserts for two 6 foot tall shallow storage cabs I will mount on the wall in our wide hallway outside the tiny bathroom. The units will hold all sorts of pharmaceuticals and grooming products, and make use of totally wasted space.

So far- mine have stayed flat- knock on wood! (sorry; couldn't resist that one). I used thin beadboard paneling (individual wood planks). I can see where the MDF would be a good stable product to use.

I'm back! I emailed GW and either they fixed it or the problem went away. When I tried to log in, I got an error and page that was blank except at the top it said "Content-type: text/plain"

Anyway, thank you Chris for posting for me. I didn't want Jay to think I was ignoring his answer.

We bought some MDF and we will put a dado in it and insert the beadboard paneling. Dh did a test run on some scraps and we don't have a dado the right size for the 1/4" panelling. So we either have to use the dado and fill it with something, or use a regular saw blade and move the fence several times.

ML, We've never had any problems with moisture, mind you we live in typically quite a dry climate. I think if it is sitting in water it might cause a problem, but with a spill, if you wipe it up as anyone would, I can't see that it would cause an issue. We are making all our new cupboard doors out of MDF. The cabinets themselves are made of MDF, too. We have had a temp countertop on the cabs for a long time now and have had no water issues at all, even though our sink is not properly fitted.
Maybe you're thinking of a fiberboard or particleboard which is much more prone to disintegrating when wet?

Jay, hopefully your doors never have an issue. I think that wood is beautiful, but our climate changes so drastically, so fast, that wooden doors tend to not work very well for very long, especially if they are inset with small gaps. We can have temp changes of several dozens of degrees in one day. (More info here)
I'm always surprised when our piano tuner says that the piano doesn't need much work. :o)

Marti, it might be worth purchasing the right sized dado. We've 'made do' an awful lot and it sometimes just is more trouble than it's worth.

We have large temperature and humidity swings here, too. My doors are surface mounted, so dimensional changes don't affect anything.

Considering the money saved by making your own doors, it's well worth spending $100 or so on a decent dado set. There's a huge difference in quality and results with the better sets.